


Chinese Bodyguard

by pisceskpopfics



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Gang World, Angst, Fluff, Gang, M/M, Mafia EXO, Romance, gang exo, mafia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-11
Updated: 2018-05-11
Packaged: 2019-05-05 03:35:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 17,405
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14608410
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pisceskpopfics/pseuds/pisceskpopfics
Summary: Sehun’s never questioned what his brother does for work, he just rolls with the oddities of his brothers life. That is, until he wakes up one day to find someone not his brother sitting in his living room declaring he’s here to watch Sehun because his brother has some trouble with the a Chinese Mafia group.





	1. Chapter 1

Sehun is used to strange things. His older brother – Junmyeon – is always involved in some weird stuff. He comes home with strange people or briefcases that vanish the next day. Sehun never questions it and simply let’s his brother do as he does, he’s a grown adult and he can take of himself. He knows his older brother has knives and guns stashed in the house. He’s shown Sehun the basics on guns and self-defense, “just in case” he would always say. He makes sure the house is locked and the few times they hang out outside of the house he’s always cautious of where they go. Sehun never asks and he’s also, honestly, trying his hardest not to flunk out of college.

 

So, on Saturday, when Sehun walks down stairs to see a man sitting alone on his couch – that is defiantly not his brother – he is actually surprised for the first time in years. He studies the guy for a minute, watching him scrolling and typing away on his laptop set up on the coffee table. Next to it a small stack of files and at least three different cell phones. Curiosity festers under Sehun’s skin as he takes light steps down the last few stairs.

 

He clears his throat before calling out to the man. “Who the hell are you?”

 

The man doesn’t look up from his laptop. “I’m Luhan. I’m here to keep an eye on you while I – and a few others – find a way to get your brother out of some deep trouble with a Chinese Mafia group.”

 

“Oh.” Sehun nods his head. “Well, that explains what he’s been doing all these years.”

 

Luhan doesn’t respond or even look up and Sehun isn’t sure what to do now. His brother is usually here to mediate him and his friends, and he really hates Sehun being near his friends and coworkers.

 

“Is, um, is Jun even here?” Sehun finally asks, shuffling past the coffee table towards the kitchen.

 

“No.” Luhan responds offhandedly.

 

“Okay,” Sehun draws out the word as he enters the kitchen, “well I have plans today.”

 

“Cancel them.” It’s definitely not a question, his tone is strong and demanding.

 

“What?” Sehun blinks, frowning. “No.”

 

Luhan finally looks up, face blank as he stares across the kitchen island at Sehun. “Yes. Cancel all your plans. You aren’t allowed to leave the house today.”

 

Glaring at him, Sehun’s hand instinctively reaches for the gun taped under the counter.

 

“Okay, I’m gonna be honest, I don’t recognize you and you telling me I can’t leave me house is really sketchy. How do I know you actually work for or with my brother?”

 

“Well, I know for a fact that you’re reaching for the gun he keeps under there.” Luhan deadpans, eyes locked on Sehun.

 

“I’m not reaching for a gun.”

 

“If Suho – er – Junmyeon, taught you well then you know everywhere he has guns and you know not to trust anyone.” Luhan finally stands up, making his way carefully, slowly over to him.

 

Sehun notes that he’s taller than Luhan, but his presences exudes dominance and strength. Keeping his hand on the gun though, he tenses as Luhan leans on the island in front of him.

 

“Believe me, if I didn’t work with your brother you wouldn’t have woken up today.” Luhan’s smile is sickening sweet as he pressed his hands into the counter. “And as for your brother and me, I run the China side of his business for him so I spend a good amount of time overseas.”

 

“Okay,” Sehun’s fingers twitch as he pulls the gun out slowly, “but still why are you here then?”

 

“Confidential.” Is all Luhan says, eyes boring into Sehun’s.

 

It’s a tense second or two before either make a move. Sehun steps back and rips the gun up to aim at Luhan’s head, but as he leans back Luhan presses down and lifts himself onto the island with nibble movements. Crouching on the island top he reaches out and grabs Sehun’s wrist, pushing it away as he grips the gun in his other hand and twists it from his grip. Sehun’s knees almost buckle in shock, but he quickly recovers and twists his arm to rip it from Luhan’s grasp trying to keep a strong hold on the gun. Luhan manages to get the gun out of his hands as he balances himself on a knee. As Sehun goes in for a punch, Luhan slides to the side, grabs his wrist and pulls him forward, pressing the gun into his stomach.

 

“I suggest,” he quips pressing the gun harder into his stomach as he squeezes his wrist, “you stop this before one of us gets hurt . . . well I mean you. Suho would have my head.”

 

Sehun glares at him before relenting. With a sigh, his shoulders drop.

 

Grinning, Luhan pulls the gun back and shoves Sehun away. Sliding off the counter, Luhan pulls the clip out of the gun and pockets it before tossing the gun back onto the island.

 

“I know he’s got more stashed around here, but I hope you’re smart enough to just not.” Luhan levels him with a steely gaze before walking back over to his laptop. “Okay, no more questions about your brother and what’s going on. Only if the situation is dire will he let me explain things to you.”

 

“Yet,” Sehun drawls rubbing his wrist, “you’re here to, violently, protect me. That’s not dire?”

 

Luhan sits down, rolling his eyes. “It’s bad, but not dire yet. So just, make this easy on us and stop trying to attack me, cancel your plans, and don’t try to run away.”

 

“I’m not kidding when I say I can’t cannel.” Sehun growls, glaring at him.

 

Heaving an annoyed sigh, Luhan turns a frustrated gaze to him. “Alright I’ll humor you for a minute: what are your plans?”

 

“I have class in like . . . an hour. Then I have a session with my math tutor. After that I had planned on studying in the library and finishing up my papers at this coffee shop I frequent.”

 

“Well,” Luhan closes his eyes with another sigh. Sehun thinks maybe he’s won, and he’ll get to get out of here. Then Luhan shakes his head and opens his eyes. “I’d call your teacher and tutor and tell them you’re sick.”

 

“Are you serious?”

 

“Do I not look serious?”

 

“The pink hair and height don’t make you too intimidating.”

 

Eyes hardening, Luhan reaches into his pocket and pulls out two things: the clip that he tosses on the table and a knife which he opens and points at Sehun. “I really wish you wouldn’t test me. I will harm you if I have to, to get you to stay put. Suho said do what I have to, he said you can be just a stubborn as him. So, if I need to use force I will.”

 

Sehun will never admit it out loud, but as his eyes flicker between the knife and Luhan he feels a small spark of fear. There’s something about Luhan, despite his pretty face and short stature, that make him terrifying. He honestly would’ve expected his brother to protect him with some big beefy American bodyguard, but Luhan seems to be even scarier than he could’ve imagined.

 

“Fine,” Sehun huffs, ever defiant and bratty – as to not show fear, “I’ll skip class, email my teacher and Kai for notes, and let my tutor know I have to skip today.”

 

Suddenly, Luhan’s face shifts from the hard, angry stare to a soft, warm smile. Sehun blinks twice in shock.

 

“Thank you.” Luhan closes the knife and sets it down.

 

Sehun blinks once more as Luhan turns back to his computer and starts typing again. It’s weird and surreal. Thinking he’s dreaming – hopefully – Sehun pinches himself as he begins to trek back up to his room. Sadly, as he feels the sharp sting Luhan doesn’t vanish or move. He pauses in front of Luhan to stare at him for a few seconds before heading upstairs. He does as he says and emails both his tutor and teacher, as well as texts Kai about getting him notes. Kai is kind enough to respond with ‘we better see u next class or else’ knowing Sehun’s habits of skipping a week of classes just out of boredom. With a laugh, Sehun closes his laptop and scrolls through his texts to find his brother’s contact.

 

Staring, he spends a minute debating whether or not he should text him. While Luhan is terrifying, he’s still not sure if he just knows a lot or actual knows Junmyeon.

_If he’s been involved in this shady shit this whole time, it’s hard to say if Luhan is an enemy or a friend._ Groaning, he locks his phone and decides to try and pry some info out of Luhan.

 

Once back downstairs, Sehun finds Luhan angrily rubbing at his pink hair, pushing it back to revile dark down roots around the sides, as he groans. “I swear if Chen can’t find anything, I’m going to cut him.”

 

Sehun isn’t sure if that’s a real threat or not, but his eyes flicker to the knife on the table. As he stars at it he notices that the clip is gone as well.

 

He turns to look at the kitchen, only for Luhan to answer his unvoiced question. “I put the clip in the gun and put it back where Suho left it. Always good as a just in case. Though, I think Suho’s kept his private life pretty much off radar according to Chen so we shouldn’t have to worry about assassins.”

 

“Assassins!?” Sehun spins around, eyes wide as he looks to Luhan.

 

Smiling, Luhan nods his head.

 

“So, not dire enough to warrant me knowing the details, but dire enough that whatever’s going on involves assassin’s after my brother?” Sehun’s voice pitches up at the end.

 

With a roll of his eyes and sigh Luhan waves a hand at him. “Basically, the gist of what’s going on is your bro and the other leader of our crew, made a deal that was meant to go south and capture some really messed up people-”

 

“Messed up people?”

 

“Let me finish.” Luhan points a finger at him and then makes a shushing motion by placing it on his lips. “So, it was supposed to work that we capture them and get them locked away, blah blah blah. Our plans got leaked by one of their hackers – who surprisingly beat Chen – and their boss was pissed enough to specifically target our leaders in the middle of a meeting. They’re in hiding; the rest of us are on protection duty to family as well as clean up duty to try and get these guys in jail.”

 

“Messed up people?” Sehun asks again, finally moving to sit on the far side of the couch Luhan’s on.

 

“A Chinese mafia group out of Shanghai, they’re like class A level assholes.” Luhan explains, glancing at Sehun before looking back at the file he’s holding.

 

“Okay but-”

 

“Ah!” Luhan turns to him again and places his finger to his lips. “No more questions about Suho or our crew.”

 

“How can you shush me? I have to be older than you? Isn’t it disrespectful to shush your elders here?”

 

Luhan manages to resist an eye roll by squeezing his eyes shut and taking a deep breathe. “I’m Chinese, so I really don’t care about your culture too much, but more importantly I am older than you. You’re 23; I’m 27.”

 

“Seriously?” Sehun raises an eyebrow.

 

Luhan turns to face him. “Are you going to keep making fun of me, the guy who has both pointed a gun and knife at you today, _and_ is in charge of protecting you? Ya know, Suho wouldn’t totally mind me roughing you up a bit.”

 

Swallowing past the lump in his throat, Sehun notes that Luhan’s face has once again turned hard. _Someone this pretty and small, granted not as small as Jun, but still no one like him should be this scary._

 

Before Sehun can answer his original question, one of the phones on the table goes off, starling him and making him jump in his seat. Luhan doesn’t scare, but his eyes do widen as he quickly answers it.

 

“Yes?”

 

Sehun watches as Luhan listens intently to the frantic voice that he hears muffled from his spot. Luhan then starts speaking in a language Sehun doesn’t know, assuming its Chinese. They converse for a minute before Luhan lets out a few English curses and hangs up.

 

Reaching over the arm of the couch, Luhan stands up and pulls up a bag Sehun hadn’t noticed before, setting it on the couch.

 

“We have to go. Leave your cellphone here but grab any study material you have.” Luhan orders as he starts putting the laptop and files in his bag. “And don’t ask, just do as I say.”

 

Frowning, Sehun sits still, defiant.

 

Once Luhan has the files put away he places one phone in his pocket and one in the bag, the one he talked on sits in the middle of the table now.

 

“Could you please,” Sehun pulls his gaze form the phone to Luhan who’s running a hand through his hair in frustration, “just do as I say. I really don’t want to have to drag you out of here.”

 

“I still don’t believe you work for my brother.” Luhan groans and tosses his head back, snapping his eyes shut. “I mean, you say he’s in trouble with Chinese mafia, yet here you are: Chinese.”

 

Snapping his head forward Luhan practically shouts, “Are you _fucking_ kidding me?”

 

Standing up to his full height, Sehun glares down at Luhan. “No, I’m not. I. Do. Not. Trust you.”

 

“Oh, for the love of-!”

 

 

The sound of breaking glass snaps both of their gazes to the upstairs.

 

“Perfect.” Luhan growls. Turning to reach into his bag, he draws out a pistol and heads for the staircase. “By the time I get back down here, you better have shoes on and be ready with what I said or I swear . . .” The last part is grumbled, but Sehun is honestly in a state of panic and shock, that he doesn’t care as he hears the sound of smashing furniture upstairs.

_There’s someone breaking into my house._ The thought flashes through Sehun’s mind as he watches Luhan take quick, quiet steps upstairs, gun held up. He’s never had anything out of the ordinary actually happen to him. Sure, Junmyeon’s come home once or twice a little beat up, but he’s always told Sehun that what he does doesn’t involve him and never would. He told Sehun that his work wasn’t in line with Sehun; he’d be safe, but here he is clearly not safe.

 

While lost in a panic attack, Sehun’s breathing picks up and his eyes start to defocus as he tries to process that the situation is – in fact – real. As his surroundings dim to his conscious he fails to hear the struggle ensuing upstairs.

 

It takes Luhan shouting curses and falling down the staircase to make him jump backwards and scramble away into the nearest wall.

 

Luhan quickly jumps to his feet, gun aimed at the stairs where a man in all black now stands.

 

Sehun scrambles back further, eyes wide and locked onto the man who immediately notices him. Just as Sehun rushes along the wall and around the corner, he fires a shot. Sehun feels the bullet go past his head and hears it hit the wall as he hides just behind the wall in the entryway.

 

Another shot rings out, quickly followed by two response shots, who fired which is lost one Sehun. With each shot though, Sehun flinches back further towards the front door.

 

One more shot goes off, sending Sehun’s hands over his ears as he curls into himself, sliding down the wall to sit on the floor.

 

Silence follows.

 

A minute later, footsteps sound on the hardwood and Sehun looks up to see a frantic eyed Luhan spinning around the corner.

 

“Are you hurt?” he rushes out, sliding across the floor to crouch in front of him. “He didn’t hit you, did he?”

 

Slowly, Sehun takes his hands away from his head and shakes his head. “No. I . . . I, uh . . . I got behind the wall in time.”

 

A heavy sigh of relief falls from Luhan’s lips and he visibly relaxes, slipping back onto his heels. “Thank god.”

 

Sehun’s eyes flicker to the hallway entrance. “Is he . . ?”

 

“No,” Luhan quickly shakes his hand, the other hand still holding his gun in a tight grip, “non-lethal shot, but I knocked him out. Assassin or not, as a bodyguard I try not to kill just, um, knock out until our cleanup guys come in.”

 

“Ah.” Sehun relaxes a little.

 

Luhan watches him a second longer before patting his arm. “Come on, I’m gonna get him tied up so my crew can come grab him. I need you to go upstairs and grab you study materials: it’ll help distract you from the situation.”

 

“Does this,” Luhan stands up and holds out his hand, which Sehun takes, “happen often enough that it doesn’t faze you?”

 

Grimacing Luhan shakes his head. “It fazes me, we just learn to roll with the punches and not let it show. Now, come on.”

 

They walk back to the living room, and Sehun pauses. The man in black is sprawled out at the bottom on the staircase, bleeding form a wound in his shoulder and a wound in his leg. Luhan slips his gun in the waistband of his pants as he crouches down, then he grabs the man and drags him away from the stair case. He then goes to his bag and pulls out cloth and rope before turning to Sehun.

 

“Go, get what you need. And remember, no cellphone, leave that in your room. They know you’re his brother so they more than likely have that, but we need to go now.”

 

It takes Sehun a second before his legs cooperate and move up the staircase and to his room. Even though his brain is still running in circles trying to figure out what exactly just happened, he grabs his backpack and starts packing up what he usually takes to school. He does it all in a daze and soon finds himself descending the staircase with one hand on his backpack strap and the other resting on his lips.

 

The man in black is sprawled on the floor with his hands bound and his wounds patched up.

 

Luhan can be heard in the entryway shuffling around in his bag.

 

Sehun keeps his eyes on the man as he walks past, until the wall blocks his view. Looking in front of him he finds Luhan standing in the open doorway, zipping up his bag.

 

“Put on your shoes and grab your car keys. They know my car.”

 

Nodding, Sehun grabs his keys off the hooks by the door and then quickly crouches down to slip on his shoes.

 

“Hey,” Luhan calls his attention as he’s standing up, “that café you mentioned, does Suho know about it?”

 

Sehun ponders for a second, pulling his backpack up higher on his shoulder. “No, I don’t think he does.”

 

Luhan’s body relaxes another level with a smile. “Perfect, we can go there and hide out for a bit. You drive.” With that he picks up his duffle and waves his hand for Sehun to follow.

 

The sunshine rains down onto them as they step outside. Sehun quickly locks the front door. Luhan waits patiently next to him as he turns to head for his car.

 

The sunlight – Sehun notes – gives Luhan a whole new look to him and even though he slightly scares Sehun, he can’t deny that he looks much more stunning in the sun. Something he’ll never understand, is how everyone Jun seems to get involved with or has brought by is strikingly handsome – each in their own way. Which, he also thinks, is probably something he shouldn’t be paying attention to given the situation, but Luhan’s hair shines pleasantly in the bright sun and his eyes seem to have small flecks of color dancing in them.

 

Abruptly turning his gaze away to the keys in his hand, he unlocks his car and motions for Luhan to get in the passenger seat.

 

The car ride to the café is quiet. The silence only broken by the low music from the speakers and the occasional rustle of clothes as either of them fidget. Luhan seems to be relaxed, eyes closed as the sun shines on him through the window, but Sehun is still on edge as he steals glances at him when they’re stopped at lights.

 

Sehun parks in the lot just across the street from the café. Luhan steps out with his duffle bag, slipping on a pair of sunglasses. Sehun slings his backpack onto his shoulder and locks up the car before leading Luhan across the street to the café.

 

Upon opening the door, they’re assaulted with the loud sounds of college student chatter, scribbling pens, and clicking keys. Luhan’s eyes skim over the vast café, scoping out a place to sit that’s not too close to anyone or the front door. While he’s distracted, Sehun walks with determination to the smiling barista – whom he’s sad isn’t the regular, Jongdae, that he’s become close to – and orders himself a large calming tea. Luhan raises an eyebrow at him as he finally catches up to him.

 

They still don’t speak as they wait for Sehun’s drink.

 

Once he has his drink, Sehun hikes his bag up higher on his shoulder before motioning for Luhan to follow again.

 

Sehun leads they to the far back corner of the shop. It’s booth in its own little alcove, blocked off from the other booths by a back wall; Luhan nods in appreciation and takes the seat that’s practically invisible to the rest of the café setting his duffle bag next to him on the inside. Sehun sits heavy across from him, his backpack sliding off his shoulder to sit at is feet as he takes a long for chugs of his tea.

 

Luhan frowns. “I’m sorry. This must be stressful.”

 

Shaking his head, Sehun waves him off. “It’s not yet, I mean, you say Jun’s okay so I shouldn’t worry, but . . . I can feel that worry anxiety creeping in. So, I’m just gonna drown it before it takes over.”

 

Laughing lightly, Luhan flashes him a wide smile and nods his head.

 

As Sehun nurses his drink close to his chest, Luhan pulls his phone out of the duffle and sets it one the table between them.

 

“Chen knew of the guy coming to the house. I texted our cleanup guy, Lay, the location, so he’s on his way to collect him and then he’ll text me when the coast is completely clear. Chen also said both Kris and Suho were safety in hiding with no one being able to find them.” Luhan gives Sehun a reassuring smile that sends a wave of warmth down his spine. “Your brother is gonna be fine I’m sure.”

 

“Thanks.” Sehun responds, not fully sounding like he means it, but Luhan can see the truth in his eyes.

 

Its silent for another while before Sehun finally pulls out his laptop and phone to start working on his homework. Kai emails him the notes as soon as the lecture is over and Sehun decided to get started on that first – he also notes that the time seems to be passing rather quickly.

 

A few hours later, long after Sehun’s finished his business proposal for class and well after his second tea – which Luhan bought him – the phone that Luhan has been staring down for the last twenty minutes begins to vibrate. Sehun’s head snaps up to look at the phone past his laptop and Luhan jumps in his seat, hands quickly swiping to answer the call.

 

“Yes?” His voice is strained, the first sign of distress.

 

Sehun watches with narrowed as the worry starts to form on Luhan’s face.

 

“Okay, um, yeah I can do that boss.”

 

“Jun?!” Sehun’s eyes light up in shock.

 

Luhan looks at him and nods his head. “Okay boss . . . yeah . . . alright here.” Luhan pulls the phone away and holds it Sehun.

 

Sehun practically slams his laptop shut and rips the phone form Luhan’s hand, turning towards the wall as he presses the phone to his ear, heart speeding up.

 

“Jun?”

 

A sigh is heard on the other line. “Hey, Sehun.”

 

“Jun, what’s going on?”

 

There’s a pause; another sigh. “Trouble? I think that’s the best way to put it. I’m sorry you got dragged into . . . all this. I’m sure Luhan’s been a little blunt with you, but he’s the one I trust the most to protect you.”

 

“Are you okay?”

 

“Yes,” Jun laughs lightly, “yes I’m fine. Don’t worry. Look, um, this trouble isn’t going to be cleaned up as quickly as I was hoping. We had a couple plans, but none have worked.”

 

“Jun, are you sure you’re going to be okay?”

 

Another pause. “Sehun, I need you to do something for me, just for a few weeks.”

 

Furrowing his brows, Sehun licks his lips in a nervous gesture. “What is it?”

 

“Don’t worry about me.”

 

Sehun pause, blinks and the groans. “Jun are you kidding me?”

 

“No, I’m not. I need you to give me a few weeks – a month tops.”

 

Sehun scoffs, tossing his head back to move his hair out of his face. “A month is a long time.”

 

“Yeah, but I think if we hide out for that long we can clean up this trouble. So just, I need you to do what you always do in a day, don’t worry about me, and listen to Luhan.”

 

Sehun squints his eyes and flinches back in surprise at the sound of Luhan’s name. His eyes flicker to the man mentioned, seeing him watching him with a hawk like eyes.

 

“I’m putting him in charge of protecting you.” Jun explains. “He’ll be your personal bodyguard, until I come back.”

 

“A babysitter?”

 

“No,” Jun sighs in frustration as Sehun keeps looking at Luhan, “a bodyguard. A protector. It seems the trouble knows about you and he’s going to make sure that trouble never touches you.”

 

“Are you ever going to tell me exactly what’s going on?” Sehun growls, frustration clouding his brain as he turns his gaze down slightly.

 

Jun is quiet for a minute. “Yes. Just not until this is all cleaned up. Once we’re back to normal I promise I’ll finally tell you everything so you aren’t in the dark all the time.”

 

Sehun nods his head slowly, wrapping his free arm around his waist.

 

“Until then, you are in Luhan’s hands. Don’t make this too hard on him, just . . . if he says to do something do it; if he tells you not to do something then don’t do it; if he tells you–”

 

Sehun groans. “I get it, do as Luhan says and cause no problems.”

 

“Please.”

 

“Fine.”

 

They both fall silent.

 

Luhan’s eyes narrow slightly and Sehun quickly moves his gaze down to his lap.

 

“I promise Sehun, we’ll figure this out. I just need time.”

 

Sehun nods. “Okay, be safe.”

 

“I’ll try. Hand me back to Luhan.”

 

Stiffly, Sehun pulls the phone away from his ear and hands it to Luhan.

 

Tuning out the conversation, Sehun crosses his arms onto the table and lays his head down. Actually hearing Jun say that something’s wrong, makes his head spin. It solidifies that today is real and something is wrong.

 

A twisting feeling in his gut makes Sehun worry. He can tell something is very wrong and something very bad may happen he’s sure of it – to who though, he isn’t.

 

“Okay,” Luhan breaks him out of his daze by tapping his arm, “Suho says there’s a guest room in your place I can stay. Lay says the place is clean and Chen says the ten-block radius in clear. Starting tomorrow you can continue to do everything you normally do, I’ll just be there with you.”

 

Raising his head slowly, Sehun stares at him blankly.

 

Fidgeting, Luhan runs a hand through his hair. “I promise, I’ll try to make being your bodyguard as less awkward as possible, but . . . you mean the world to Suho, so I know this is very important.”

 

They lock eyes for a second, neither speaking. Something unknown passes between them, something else that makes Sehun’s gut twist.

 

“I promise you and Suho, I’ll keep you safe.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Songs that inspired this chapter: 
> 
> “Midnight Road” by SF9 & “Starry Night” by Mamamoo

After Junmyeon’s call, Sehun packs up his things and they head back out to the car. Lay calls Luhan as Sehun’s driving home, informing him that he left a duffle of his clothes and essentials from the safe house in the guest room – per Junmyeon’s request.

The situation as a whole, still hasn’t fully sank into Sehun yet. A part him expects to go to sleep and wake up tomorrow to Junmyeon calling for him to not be late to school, like he had just yesterday.

Shaking his head, Sehun pushes those thoughts to the back of his mind as he steps out of his car and makes his way to the front door. He tests the knob first, upon finding it locked he hums in appreciation.

“Lay is always good about locking up after himself; he’s rather considerate.”

“Noted.” Sehun remarks as he unlocks and swings it open.

Sehun almost expects the house to be, somehow, darker. As if the realization of Jun being in trouble would make everything different, make it eerie. But, as he flicks on the light switch in the hallway he’s greeted by the bright lights and white walls, everything looking just as pristine as usual. Sehun lets out a breath – that he didn’t know he was holding – and slowly, he walks down the hall toward the living room. Again, he expects to be greeted by a dark or evil, but as he flicks on that light switch it’s more of the same simple, cleanness: no sign of the man from earlier anywhere, no blood, no nothing.

With a frown, Sehun takes cautious steps around the living room and kitchen, scanning the whole area. Luhan watches from the entry way, not moving a foot into the living room as he watches.

It’s a minute or two before Sehun walks behind the counter, reaching under to make sure the gun in still there. With another sigh of relief, he rests his hands on the counter top and hangs his head. After another minute, Sehun lifts a hand to make a gesture towards Luhan. “You can lock the door and shut the hall light off.”

“Okay.” Luhan turns back and does as Sehun says before slowly stepping into the living room. “Sehun.”

Sehun’s head is still hung low, but he makes a humming noise in response.

“It’s getting late,” Luhan starts, standing across the counter from him with one hand resting on the counter top, “you should get some sleep.”

Sehun hums again.

  
Luhan’s hand twitches; the urge to reach out and comfort Sehun is strong, but he holds back and lets out a quiet sigh. “Just, try and get some sleep. I’ll be in the guest room if you need anything.”

When Sehun gives yet another hum as his only response, Luhan frowns. He taps his finger on the counter a few times before nodding and stepping away from the counter. He backs up towards the downstairs hallway; he stares Sehun down for a minute more before heading over to the guest room.

Sehun stays staring at the counter as his mind races. The dusk feel and growing darkness shroud his mind in a sharp realization and clarity of everything that went down. There’s something about the stillness, the sharpness of the air – even indoors – that makes the world look different. It can send off anxiety in some and calms others, but for Sehun it’s an odd mixture. While yes, he’s at home, he feels safe – Luhan’s presence adding to that safeness shockingly –  but, he still feels something churning inside him; a warning at the edge of his mind that he can’t decipher. The nightfall makes him replay the day over again in his mind in a sharp clarity which distorts it into something dark, even though his house lights are shining brightly on him.

It takes it a while before Sehun’s able to fully bring himself back, clawing out of his subconscious to gain function of his limbs. He lifts his head first, looking around the house and lingering on the hallway to the guest room. Then he slowly lifts his body to stand full height. Sighing heavily, he slowly makes his way out of the kitchen, flicking the lights off, and over to the staircase. His legs feel a little numb and he wonders for a second if he should eat something before going to hide away in his room. In the end, he decides to just go upstairs.

Once in his room, Sehun proceeds to drop face first into his bed. His body is screaming for sleep, but his mind is still playing over everything in his head.

Deciding he’s not getting to sleep just yet, Sehun pushes himself up and heads to the bathroom.

After a very warm, long shower, Sehun returns to his room in a pair of sweatpants and throws on a large t-shirt. Collapsing on his bed again, Sehun stares up at the ceiling blankly. He should sleep; he has class in the morning; Luhan will be there.

At the thought of Luhan, Sehun squints his eyes and strains his ears to listen for sounds of the Chinese man. Usually, if Junmyeon was home Sehun could hear him moving around in the study down stairs or the kitchen, but he hears nothing. He wonders, briefly, if Luhan is already asleep. It’s not a far-fetched idea, he’s probably used to these things by now and can sleep through the night easily.

By the time Sehun comes out of his thoughts again the moon is casting a white light into his room. The pale glow finally gives the house the eerie feel that Sehun hasn’t been able to clearly see. Glancing at the clock on his night stand, Sehun lets out a slightly crazed chuckle followed by a long groan: 1:43am. Which means he’s just been lying, staring at his ceiling for hours.

With another groan, he lifts himself from bed and heads downstairs in search of water and possibly a snack.

Once at the bottom of the stair case, Sehun finally hears some form of noise coming from the kitchen where the light over the island is on. Walking lightly, Sehun peaks around the corner to see what the noise is.

There, sitting at the island, is Luhan with his back to Sehun. He can see a towel laid out in front of him and what looks like gun parts laid out on it.

“Hi Sehun.” Luhan speaks, causing Sehun to jump and knock his elbow into the wall.

Sehun hisses in pain, holding his elbow close to his chest as he slowly shuffles over to the island. Once standing beside him, Sehun sees that Luhan has his gun taken apart and spread out across the towel.

“What are you doing up?” Luhan asks as he continues to work.

“Couldn’t sleep.” Sehun offers simply, furrowing his brows. “What are you doing?”

“Cleaning my guns. I try to do this any time I have down time.”

“Jun’s never shown me how to clean a gun; I don’t think I’ve ever thought about cleaning guns.”

Luhan laughs, flashing Sehun a bright smile as he lays down the piece he was handling on. “That makes sense. I think Suho would prefer you not to get used to having a gun long enough that you’d have to clean it. He prefers to keep you on the” he debates his next word, pursing his lips and tilting his head from side to side “safe side of this life.”

Sehun snorts and takes a seat on the stool next to Luhan. “Yeah, that seems to have worked well.”

Luhan laughs again, still smiling brightly. “Want me to show you?”

Blinking, Sehun stares at the gun parts with considering eyes. “I mean, sure I don’t know if I’ll understand any of it.”

“I’ll explain it in common and simple terms for you, newbie.”

As the morning begins and the moon slowly sinks through the dark sky, Luhan describes each gun part in detail. His eyes are focused and calculating, watching the way Sehun reacts to tell if he understands or if he needs to break something down further. He goes over how to clean each part, what’s the best stuff to use. A few jokes are throw back and forth; soft laughter filters from them around the house. Luhan let’s Sehun put the gun back together, showing him how to place each piece in its proper spot. By the time it’s nearing three am, both of Luhan’s guns are cleaned and put back together.

Before they can talk more, Luhan sends him off to bed so he can sleep at least a little before his class and then he heads back to the guest room.

Sehun falls into his own bed, still exhausted but with a much calmer mind; the racing thoughts from earlier fade away as sleep calls him home.

When his alarm goes off, Sehun wakes up surprisingly easily. He can still feel the tiredness of yesterday lingering at the edges of his mind, but the hunger in his stomach is more apparent and loud. He throws on a simple gray long sleeve shirt and black skinny jeans, then he quickly packs up his school things and heads downstairs. He dumps his bag on the couch before searching the kitchen for food.

As he’s searching, Luhan emerges from the guest room, also already dressed for the day. Sehun steals a glance and finds himself pausing. Luhan’s dressed in a pair of blue jeans, black combat boots, and a white t-shirt with a leather jacket thrown over top it. It’s simple, like Sehun’s, but Sehun is once again struck by how good Luhan looks.

Thankfully, he tears his gaze away before Luhan looks at him.

Their morning progresses in a rather, surprisingly un-awkward manner. After the both ate breakfast, Luhan explained that he’d go with Sehun everywhere but he’d only stick close if needed. While Sehun isn’t sure still how he feels about it, he has to agree. Even the drive to school wasn’t awkward; it was rather pleasant, albeit very silent.

True to his word, as soon as he parks his car on campus and heads to class Luhan keeps a distance between them. To anyone else it just looks like two guys walking to the same class, unless you happen to be Sehun’s best friend Kai.

As soon as Sehun sits himself in their first class, Kai is staring at Luhan who has planted himself in a seat a little way away from Sehun and behind him, so he can still see Sehun.

“So,” Kai hums before turning forward, “what’s he doing following you around?”

Sighing, Sehun rubs his forehead. “Well, you know how my brother’s in some – moderately – shady stuff that we just ignore and don’t talk about?”

“Yeah.” Kai scrunches his face in concern.

“He,” Sehun gestures a wave towards the general area of Luhan, “is here to watch over me like a bodyguard until my brother can get himself out of a mess.”

“Huh,” Kai look past Sehun again to where Luhan is sitting, “not what I’d picture. I imagine a bodyguard to be some guy in a suit and sunglasses. They stand at the back of the class room with those like coms in their ear and follow you around silently, but … he just looks like a student.”

“I know.” Sehun laughs, pushing Kai to look away from Luhan. “I mean, it’s a better tactic, but no less shocking.”

Kai nods. “He’s also really pretty.”

“I’d say handsome.” Sehun steals a glance behind him at Luhan, who’s tapping his fingers on his desk.

Kai shoves his shoulder while rolling his eyes. “Of course you would. You’re such a sucker for the pretty ones.”

“Am not.” Sehun defends quickly turning back to the front just as Luhan glances at him, though he’d been watching Sehun and Kai from the corner of his eyes for a while now.

The conversation drops then as their professor calls attention for the lecture to begin.

The day is just like any other day for Sehun, despite Luhan’s presence. Classes, a lunch café break, study session with his tutor, and then home to either make or order dinner – most nights it’s take out if Jun isn’t home. The only things that makes it different than the usual days, is the lingering feeling of being watched and the fact that he arrives with Luhan and leaves with him too. Conversations are basic and plain, and Sehun doesn’t really know how to start any so most of their time just them is silent.

Nighttime progresses with the same silence and passes in a slow haze.

The following day, is much of the same. Until Sehun and Luhan enter the café, and Sehun’s favorite barista is back.

“Jongdae!” Sehun cheers as he enters the café, Luhan a block or so behind him as he might have speed walked because he was really hungry after the last boring lecture.

From behind the counter, the main barista turns around and flashes Sehun a huge grin. “Hey Sehun, how’s college been?”

“Boring and tiring enough to make me miss your food.” Sehun says with a soft smile as he leans on the counter.

Jongdae gives a sharp laugh. “So, I take it you want your usual then?”

“Please!”

They laugh together as Jongdae rings up his order. It’s as he’s paying that Luhan walks in and Jongdae lifts his head to greet him, only for his smile to falter and be replaced with slight shock and a look that resembles that of a student who just realized something very important.

“Hey, uh, Luhan I forgot that you were on assignment.” Jongdae laughs nervously while sliding Sehun his recite. “I guess this is your assignment then?”

Sehun blinks once, twice, and then spins around to see a hesitant Luhan behind him.

“Jongdae,” Sehun turns back, “you know him?”

“Yes.” Jongdae says slowly, drawing out the word. “We work together.”

At that, Sehun’s eyes widen and his points at Jongdae. “You? And him? And my brother?” The last words are almost seethed out through Sehun’s teeth; he’s not sure if he feels betrayed or angry or both or neither.

“Let’s talk in a booth.” Jongdae offers with a nervous smile as he passes Sehun his order.

Sehun doesn’t want to move away, he wants to have a few questions answered but he does grab his food. Before he can ask him anything, Luhan is grabbing his shoulder and steering him to the far corner booth. Reluctantly, Sehun lets him guide him and he sits down with a loud annoyed huff.

It isn’t long before Jongdae is sliding in next to Luhan who’s across from Sehun, giving him a sheepish smile.

“Before you get mad,” Jongdae starts holding up his hands, “yes I work with your brother. No, I didn’t know Suho was your brother until I saw Luhan with you just now. And no, I don’t do the work the rest of them do, I mean I kind of do, um, I’m more of a hacker – behind the scenes guy.”

“He’s Chen.” Luhan adds, resting his elbow on the table and his cheek on his hand as he watches Sehun.

“Ah,” Sehun looks at Luhan for a second before turning back to Jongdae, “so you’re a barista and a hacker?”

Jongdae perks up when Sehun’s tone isn’t hostile. “Yes! The hacking doesn’t pay great, but I enjoy putting the bad guys away so when Suho offered me a place as his hacker I gladly accepted.”

Sehun nods his head slowly. Then he finally picks up his sandwich and starts eating.

“So,” Luhan draws out, “you’re not gonna freak out? Or get mad?”

Humming in thought, Sehun sets the sandwich down and looks up. “I’m a little mad.” He admits. “But it’s not like everyone is purposefully hiding all this from me; I may be mad – frustrated actually – but, I understand this was all to protect me and make sure I never came into any harm. I know Jun doesn’t have a girlfriend, so that makes me his only family.”

“Ooohh,” Jongdae grins, “I’m so gonna tell Suho you just called him out on being single.”

With a grin and shrug, Sehun picks up his drink and says “It’ll be nothing new to him.”

Jongdae snorts. “I’m sure he could say the same thing about you.”

Sehun makes a sour face which makes Luhan stifle a laugh, turning his face down to the table as he smiles.

Jongdae sighs happily. “I’m glad you are totally pissed at us. Suho would hate for you to be mad at him.”

“Dae you a literal sunshine, I don’t think anyone can hate you.”

Luhan points at Jongdae with a grin. “That is very true, I don’t think I’ve seen you frown. An awkward or sheepish smile maybe, but never outright frown. We should call you Sunshine Hacker.”

“I actually like that, put that on the roster at the safe house. Never mind, I’ll ask Lay to do it: he has a soft spot for him.” Jongdae grins, pulling out his phone as he stands up. “Now, I have to return to work. I hope I can still be your favorite barista after this!” Before Sehun can finish chewing to respond, Jongdae is already hurrying back to the main counter.

“Busy and fast paced as usual.” Luhan comments with a chuckle.

“Sunshine defiantly fits,” Sehun finally speaks with a soft smile gracing his lips, “he’s bright, happy, and bursting with energy.”

Luhan hums, tapping his fingers on the table while swinging his gaze back to Sehun. “You’re really fine? With everything that’s been going on?”

Sehun shrugs, pushing the trash from his sandwich aside. “Jun’s always described me as adaptable and versatile; I adapt well to any situation, I guess.”

“He always said you were a really smart kid.” Luhan comments, sounding surprised at realizing that Sehun is actually pretty smart.

With a snort and a shake of his head, Sehun makes his way out of the booth. “Yeah, most people are quite shocked by that; you wouldn’t be the first. Bet you probably think I’ve got a barely passing grade average to, but I’m actually one of the top in my grade.” Sehun smiles to himself at that remark before waving Luhan to get up. “Come on, I got my study session in twenty.”

The next week and a half progress in a very similar fashion. Mornings are rather silent breakfasts, idle chatter fills their car ride, then classes where Sehun forgets Luhan is even there and enjoys his time with Kai, café visits where a little more conversation always happens but never deep, then his study sessions, and finally at the end of the day they head back home where they retreat to their separate spaces. Dinners are mostly take out, and Sehun always asks Luhan what he wants before ordering. Then, during the weekend, Luhan leaves for most of the day on Saturday and all of Sunday morning and afternoon – but he only left after Sehun promised not to leave the house. Somehow, Sehun got Kai to come over and spend Saturday playing video games with him to kill time.

In the middle of a lull in the game play where they aren’t fully concentrating, Kai brings up Luhan for the first time since the first day. “So, how’s it like having your own personal bodyguard?” Is Kai’s first question.

Sehun shrugs, eyes still focused on the game. “It’s a little weird, but after the first few days it’s just normal. Still very weird, but it’s not awkward.”

Kai laughs to himself quietly before saying, “and here I thought you’d become a flustered mess around a guy that pretty; you usually are when it comes to guys like him.”

With a scoff, Sehun shakes his head and reaches a hand over to roughly push Kai sideways. “I do not get flustered by pretty men. I definitely like pretty men, but I do not get flustered.”

“I,” Kai grins “have photo evidence and memories that prove otherwise. And a request from you to stop setting you up on dates for that exact reason.”

Sehun groans, sinking back into the couch while shaking his head.

“Why haven’t you made a move or anything yet? I mean, yeah he’s your bodyguard but you also haven’t seen anyone that was so perfectly “your type” is so long.”

Sehun huffs, setting his controller down in his lap as he looks at Kai who slowly sits back up right. “One, he’s my bodyguard and I’d rather not distract him from his job of literally keeping me alive. Two, he works with my brother and I’m positive Jun hasn’t introduced him to me because he knows my type. Three, again he works with my brother and all that mafia stuff – dangerous. Four, he’s from China and will probably go back there once Jun comes back and sorts things out. And lastly, my fifth reason, I highly doubt he’s at all interested in anyone like me.”

“Wow,” Kai stares with slightly widened eyed, “you really do like him and you’ve thought about this in depth. Dude you are so whipped.”

“Oh my god!” Sehun grabs a throw pillow from the couch and smacks Kai with it, causing the later to break out into a fit of loud laughter. “I am not whipped for Luhan.” Though, as Sehun says this, his face starts tinging a light shade of red.

Kai raises his hands in defeat. “Okay! Okay I’ll stop.” He continues to laugh as Sehun sinks into the couch with a put. “So,” Kai draws the word out, leaning over to lay partially on Sheun, “when this is all done and he’s gone, are we gonna need a long shopping weekend to buy a lot of clothes, food, and games to deal with these feelings?”

“God yes, please.”

“Consider it done.”

When Monday rolls around, the same routine continues.

Friday afternoon, Sehun and Kai stroll across campus towards their next class while discussing the upcoming release of a new game. Adamantly debating whether or not it’d be worth the money to buy it on launch day. During this debate, Sehun swings around to face Kai, walking backwards as he continues to make his point; his eyes flicker behind Kai to where Luhan’s hawk eyes are watching him. Yet, he’s so used to Luhan’s presence that he doesn’t miss a beat in conversation and easily steers his eyes back to Kai who begins his counter point.

A hand on Sehun’s shoulder cause him to jerk, ripping around out of the hold and turning on heel fast to face the person as Kai stumbles back a few steps. They’re both met with someone who looks to be a professor, and his face is slightly amused as he holds up his hands.

“Sorry to scare you.” Is the first thing the guy says.

“No worries.” Kai responds, waving him off and swiftly moving past him.

Sehun follows suit, but the guy grabs Sehun’s arm. “You’re Oh Sehun correct?”

Pausing, Sehun eyes the man curiously. “I might be, why?”

At this, a grin takes over the man’s face. “Perfect.”

“Okay,” Kai steps forward and pulls the man’s arm off of Sehun’s, “I don’t care if you’re a professor or not, we need to get to class.”

“You can,” the man glares at Kai before turning to Sehun, “but I need to have a word with Sehun.”

With a scoff and a shake of his head, Sehun turns Kai away and simply walks away. Both of them shake their heads at the man, but neither see him pulling a gun from his coat.

The shot rings out across the campus grounds, followed by a few moments of still silence. Sehun feels a burning pain rip through his shoulder, jerking him sideways into Kai. Kai stares wide-eyed forward, slowly turning to Sehun as he steadies him with a hand on his back. Sehun’s hand grips his shoulder, feeling blood soaking through his shirt and jacket. His breathing picks up instantly, the pain crashing down on his lungs as he stumbles to a halt against Kai who grips his waist to keep him standing.

The silence is broken by another shot. Kai turns back to find the man from before crumpling to the ground as Luhan sprints over to them.

Sehun’s mind is racing as he tries not to zone out, but he still doesn’t hear the screams that rip out as students start running and him and Kai definitely doesn’t notice the men around the campus that are also drawing guns and heading towards the trio.

“We have to move!” Luhan shouts to them, slightly snapping Sehun out of his daze enough to make him cry out in pain as he presses his shoulder. “Kai can you carry him?”

“Yeah, yeah!” Kai answers quickly.

“Okay follow me!”

Shots begin to sound out around them as Luhan guides them across campus, ducking behind barriers and buildings, occasionally firing behind them at one of the ones chasing him, until they reach the back of school.

“Do you drive?” Luhan asks, loading anew clip into his gun as he looks at Kai.

Kai stumbles over his words, gripping Sehun tighter. “Y-yeah.”

“Is it on campus?”

“Yeah.”

“Good, I need your keys and then I need you to lead me to the car. Once there I need you to lay Sehun in the back and make sure to keep pressure on his shoulder wound.” Luhan instructs, eyes darting everywhere.

“You talk as if I’m not here.” Sehun groans out, grasping his shoulder tighter as he leans on Kai.

With a huff, Luhan turns to face Sehun. “Are you ‘here’ enough to follow instructions.”

Sehun looks at him, his expression pained as he watches Luhan. “okay, maybe not.”

“Thought so,” Luhan shakes his head and looks away, “Kai lead the way I’ll cover you.”

Once Kai has a hold of Sehun again, he lifts him and leads the way towards the parking lot. Kai unlocks the car and sets the keys in the passenger seat for Luhan as he gets Sehun situated in the back seat.

Luhan fires off two warning shots to the few men who kept up before rushing into the car. Wasting no time, he tosses his gun onto the seat and snatches the keys. In no time flat he’s peeling out of the school lot.

Kai holds onto to Sehun, grabbing a spare shirt from the backseat floor and pressing it into the wound on his shoulder. Sehun bits his lip to hold in groans, but his face gives away just how much the bullet hurts.

“I’m gonna take you guys to my safe house. It’s a warehouse on the far side of Seoul by the Han River.” Luhan explains as he speeds up, eyes flicking from the road to the rearview mirror a few times. “Kai, they don’t know your car so you should be safe to leave afterwards.”

“Are you sure?” Kai hesitates, eyes fearful as he looks to Sehun. “Will he be okay?”

“Yes, we’ll take care of him. We have a medic at the safe house. It’ll just be easier for you to go back home.” Luhan locks eyes with Kai through the mirror. “I promise he’ll be safe with us.”

Once Kai finally nods in agreement, Luhan focuses back on the road and continues to swerve in and out of traffic. Sehun grimaces in pain every time the car shifts a bit too fast and his hand has a death grip on Kai’s wrist, that’s still pushing down on the wound. Kai’s hands are surprisingly steady while Sehun’s free hand that’s resting next to him keeps twitching. Luhan calls out warning before every turn, giving Kai a chance to brace himself and Sehun. It’s a good twenty minutes before Luhan finally comes to a stop and practically launches out of the car.

“Medic!” Luhan screams in the deserted lot, towards the looming metal warehouse.

The place looks like an old metal type factory or an unused storage space, but it’s old and rusted from years of weather and storms. Though rusted, it still looks stable, standing tall against the sunset. The sound of the Han behind them sets an odd soothing presence to the place, only accompanied by the rustle of wind in the surrounding trees, which seem to enclose the whole area into its own world.

The back door of the car is opened and Kai slips out to be greeted by a tall thin man with piercing eyes.

“Help me get him out, carefully.” He commands Kai.

Together they lift and pull Sehun from the car; Kai’s gaze avoids the dark red stain on the seat as he swallows thickly. They each throw an arm over their shoulders and carry him through a small wooden door inside the warehouse. Surprisingly, the inside doesn’t totally mirror the abandoned outside. While the floor is defiantly old and mostly dirt there’s also a whole computer set up on one side of the room, a few couches and tables in between, the lighting is bright and new, and then there’s – what looks like – a makeshift med bay where the tall man is guiding them towards.

Once Sehun is laid down on one of the three white beds – similar to old hospital beds – the man waves Kai away and begins examining the wound.

Before Kai can form any kind of response, Luhan is back and holding out a pair of keys to him. “These are for Lay’s car, he’s our medic.”

Kai steals a glance back at the man now pulling open Sehun’s shirt.

“We’ll clean your car,” Luhan continues, pulling Kai’s gaze back, “and return it to you as soon as we can. We also have your number and we’ll have Sehun text you when he’s patched up, just so you know he’s okay.”

Nodding, Kai takes one glance at Sehun. “And you promise me he’ll be fine?”

At that, Luhan grins. “Trust me, he’ll be fine. Lay actually has a medical degree; he’ll have him patched up in no time, but he’ll definitely need to sleep it off.”

Luhan walks Kai out and makes sure he gets on the road in the right direction before finally going back inside. He walks over to where Lay is currently working stiches into Sehun.

“I think I just broke a record.” Lay chuckles, smiling at Luhan.

Humming, Luhan sits on the bed next to them, facing Sehun and watching his face closely. “Is he out?”

“Yeah, thought it might be better for the pain. Luckily the bullet went straight through, so it’ll heal up fairly quickly.” Lay pauses his work and looks at Luhan. “How are you?”

Luhan blinks. “Uh, I didn’t get shot I’m fine.”

Lay doesn’t miss a beat, eyes leveled with Luhan. “Not what I mean.”

They stare at each other for a good few minutes before Luhan sighs, moving his gaze to Sehun as he shifts to the edge of the bed to lean closer to him. “I’m okay, a little shaken up but good. I don’t know why I’m so … concerned about him.”

Lay hums, resuming the stitching.

“It may be just that, he’s Suho’s little brother and if I fuck this up I fuck up my life.” Luhan guesses, though he doesn’t even sound sure to his own ears.

Lay simply offers, “It could be, but you have been spending a lot of time with him. Just you two, watching over each other and learning about each other. It could be more than just Suho’s little brother.”

Biting his lip, Luhan shakes his head and leans back. “No, he’s Suho’s little brother. It can’t be anymore.”

With a roll of his eyes, Lay sighs and waves him off. “Go rest, he’ll be out for a bit. I’ll get you as soon as he wakes up.”

Sighing in defeat, Luhan hesitates a second longer before pushing himself up off the bed. He walks over to one of the couches and drops face first onto it with a groan of frustration. The comfort of the couch sends his mind immediately to sleep mode. As he’s drifting off he silently prays that Sehun will be fine and that they’ll finally here from Kris or Suho in the morning.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Songs that inspired this chapter:
> 
> “Starry Night” by Mamamoo & “Between the Raindrops” by Lifehouse

Sehun comes to in a slow haze. He’s not sure for a minute if he’s floating in his mind, still asleep, or not. Slowly, he begins to feel the bed underneath him. His fingers wrap into the sheets, grasping onto the real world as images of his brother making breakfast at home dance around on the edge of the darkness. For a second, Sehun can almost believe he’s back in his room, but he knows better, so he lets himself float for a few minutes longer before slowly opening his eyes.

The room is dimly lit, the brightest light coming from the computer station across the room. A soft yellow lamp shines down on Sehun in the medical area. With his head lifted, he surveys that there’s a person sitting at the computers, working on some sort of decoding screen, and one more person on the couch – Luhan.

Luhan sits propped up on the couch, facing Sehun, head down in his chest and arms crossed. Sehun watches him for a second before dropping his head back down with a sigh.

As if sensing he’s woken, Lay turns the corner and makes his way over to him. Once he’s standing over Sehun and they lock eyes, he flashes a bright smile.

“Glad to see your awake.” He gently pats Sehun’s shoulder. “Any pain?”

Sehun shakes his head. “I’m still a little foggy, but it doesn’t hurt.” Sehun’s voice is quiet, groggy and thick with sleep.

Lay nods his head and reaches across Sehun to a table, which he didn’t notice was set next to him, grabbing a glass of water and holding it out to him. “Sit up and drink, it’s water.”

Doing as he’s instructed, Sehun uses his non-injured arm to push himself up and takes the glass, carefully. After drinking the whole thing, he passes the glass to Lay and turns back forward.

Luhan’s eyes meet his. He’s now sitting up, pushing himself off the couch and walking over to Sehun. “How do you feel?”

“No pain.” Sehun smiles, reassuringly. “I’m just a little groggy.”

“That’s good,” he turns to Lay, “how’s the wound?”

“Should heal fairly quickly. Best to keep him from straining the shoulder, but like I said it went through so we just gotta give it time.” Lay smiles while saying this, and optimistic energy flowing from him. “Sehun, lie back down and I’m going to put on some fresh bandages.”

Sehun takes a second to follow the request, slowly blinking a few times before letting himself fall back onto the bed.

The room stays silent as Lay works on his shoulder. Luhan stands beside Sehun, eyes sharp and watching everything Lay does, one arm wrapped around his waist and the other hand resting against his lips – a clear nervous and worried look painted across his who essence.

Sehun chuckles, turning his head away and closing his eyes. “Luhan, don’t look so worried. I’m fine.”

Luhan’s eyes widen a little; Lay holds back a snicker as Luhan turns and heads over to the computers where the other one is. Lay bites his lip and shakes his head while rewrapping Sehun’s shoulder.

“No more fights.” Lay declares once he’s finished, as Sehun sits up and stretches. “And not too much of that either, I don’t want you to tear open my handy work.”

“I got it. I got it.” Sehun smiles, pushing his hair out of his eyes. “Thank you, Lay.”

“My pleasure.”

It takes Sehun another minute to muster the energy to put his feet flat on the ground and then his full weight on them. He’s light headed for a second, one hand lifted over the bed to catch himself if he fell. With his eyes closed from the dizzy spill, he’s shocked to feel a hand on his arm, jolting slightly and looking up.

“You okay?” Luhan asks, eyes searching and worried.

Sehun nods, then decides it might better if he sits back down. As he falls backwards, putting a little pressure on his arm he feels a dull pain in his shoulder. “I just need to lay off it.” Sehun waves him off. “Anything from my brother?”

The sad look in Luhan’s eyes is answer enough; Sehun sighs heavily, shoulders dropping.

Luhan sits next to him, hand moving to his back to rest gently. No words pass between them, they just sit their together. At some point, Luhan’s still hand begins to rub small circles on Sehun’s back and Sehun feels himself lulled into a sense of security. A scary security, but Sehun’s still too out of it from the whole day to really do anything other than drop his head and lean towards Luhan’s comforting aura.

While the gloom of the situation still hovers over them, there’s a small bubble of comfort there, surrounding the two of them. Luhan wants to offer words of comfort or hopefulness, but even he isn’t sure.

As if the world can sense the dread Luhan fears, a sharp ringing penetrates the bubble.

“It’s Suho!” Chen’s voice accompanies it – Luhan jumps form Sehun’s side and rushes to join Chen at the computers as Sehun freezes. “Hold on I’m putting him on speaker. Okay. Suho?”

The tension hangs heavy in the air; the line is silent for a second before a gravelly voice answers. “Sorry, it’s not Suho.”

“Kris?” Luhan breathes out, eyes wide.

“Yeah.” The other line crackles a little. “My phones broken, thankfully I have his.”

“Kris,” Luhan’s voice shakes, “Kris where’s Suho?”

The line is quiet again. The tension choking Sehun. There’s a heavy sigh.

“They jumped us in our hideout, the Shanghai hideout became compromised.” Kris coughs, the sound muffled as if he’s moved the speaker away. He clears his throat though and continues. “I’m at a hospital here with Zitao. It was a shootout and when I came too I was here. According to Zitao, they took Suho while we were distracted. D.O and Xiumin are heading back to the hideout to look for clues, but I’m sorry Suho’s gone.”

Silence.

Long drawn out silence follows.

Luhan’s wide eyes turn – as if in slow motion – to Sehun. Sehun stares blankly at the floor; the air disappears from his lungs, his mouth parting as if to breath in but his muscles don’t move. A low buzz fills his ears and the edges of his vison tunnel. The panic sets in quickly. With his lungs and shoulder protesting – and ears def to Luhan calling his name through trembling lips – Sehun pushes himself from the bed and heads for the door.

The cold air blowing off the river bites into his skin, but he doesn’t feel it as he stumbles over to the long-forgotten train tracks. He collapses into the rocks between the rails, pulling his legs to his chest as he starts to suck in air – in sharp quick breaths that send his heart racing.

Suho’s gone. The words reverberate in his head, like a gunshot in an air vent. The world is lost as his eyes blur and he tries desperately to recall the last conversations he had with his brother.

In his lost state, he doesn’t hear Luhan’s boots on the gravel as he walks carefully around him, and he doesn’t feel the arms wrapping around him until he hears a heartbeat in his ear. The strong heartbeat draws him back to the starry cold night and he feels something wet cascading down his cheeks. As the buzzing subsides, he realizes he’s crying, heavily.

Luhan holds him tightly, squeezing him to his chest as he whispers, “It’s okay. I promise it’s okay. He is alive and we will get him back. We will get him back to you, it’s okay. I promise, I promise you he’ll come home.”

The constant promises slowly reach Sehun’s ears and they just make his chest ache as he gasps for air between sobs. His hands shake as he grasps Luhan’s arm, deathly tight as his whole body shakes.

Petting Sehun’s head, Luhan holds him firmly but still gently as he continues to utter promises of bringing his brother back. Sehun’s never felt emotions this strong before, and somewhere in the back of his confused and scared mind, he’s thankful that Luhan’s there.

They stay there, wrapped together between the tracks, the stars shining down on them – the only witness. It’s hours before Sehun finally calms down or simply runs out of energy to cry. Slowly his body goes lax, hand still gripping Luhan. Luhan waits a bit longer before slowly looking down and shifting his hold.

Sehun’s eyes are closed and Luhan feels his heart break more at how puffy they look – how young and broken Sehun seems in that instant makes Luhan vow to protect him. Starting with protecting him from losing his only family.

“I promise you,” Luhan whispers into his hair, “I will bring your brother back to you. Even if it costs my own life. I don’t know why, but there’s something about you Sehun. I’ll protect you from all of this, I promise.”

The stars and the river are the only ones to hear him, but he’s sure they are the only ones that need to.

Carefully, he lifts Sehun and takes him back inside while his brain is already forming a plan to get to China and find Suho.

When Sehun comes to again, it’s to loud voices and someone scolding another. He blinks his eyes open slowly for a minute before sitting up to find he’s on the hospital bed again. He sweeps his eyes around the warehouse – now lit by steaks of sunlight breaking through the windows – and finds Luhan standing in front of the computer, staring down a man on screen who looks as if he would kill Luhan, if he was present.

“You are not coming to China. End of story!” The man growls, voice slowly raising to a shout with the last statement.

“You need all hands-on deck for this!” Luhan fires back, temper showing in his volume. “If they want something for Suho, you need everyone there in case it goes wrong.”

“I mean what I –”

“Plus!” Luhan cuts him off, raising a finger towards the screen. “You need an extra body guarding Kris. So, I repeat again: Lay and Zitao guard Kris. Chen stays here to run networking and getting the police there when we need them as well as the last of the files that will get them in jail; he’ll have that urgent email sent to everyone in China. You, Xiumin, and me go to the rendezvous point with the fake barging chip. We get Suho; we get out.”

Sehun listen quietly, eyes squinted in concentration as he process all the information.

It’s quiet for a beat longer before a voice pipes up, from the computer but sounding to be a little way off from where the other is, “I hate to agree with the kid, but D.O he’s right.”

Carefully and quietly, Sehun sits himself up and stands. He’s less dizzy than when he first woke up; he’s shocked that his breakdown hasn’t left him completely drained of energy, but he can’t help but notice the slight empty, hollow feeling in his gut. Pushing it aside, simply because of hearing word on Suho, he forces himself to stand and begins to shuffle over to the computers.

“It’s risky though.” Chen pipes up, from the chair next to Luhan – who is standing.

Lay, on the other side, standing by Luhan, hums in agreement. “I’m all for being on protection detail, but just you three going is kind of insane.”

“Do we have another choice?” Luhan says, voice tired and exasperated as he stares, almost desperately, at Lay.

Sehun stands just behind them, a few feet back with his arms wrapped around his stomach as he listens to them – no one notices him.

“We can’t leave Suho there,” Luhan declares, turning back to the computer where there are now two faces, “Kris has to agree on that.”

“He does,” the new face grumbles, “but it’s still so risky and there’s a chance this could not work. Chen do you really have everything we need to get them in jail? For good?”

“Almost,” Chen sighs, turning to another screen as he begins clicking keys, “there’s just this one last file that I’ve almost unlocked, the code for it is ridiculous. I just need a little more time.”

“In that little time, we can fly out to Shanghai.” Luhan offers.

The man’s resolve begins to crumble slowly, his face looking more frustrated but understanding as he sighs. “Maybe, maybe it could work.”

Finally, Sehun announces his presence. “I want to go with you.”

“Well that’s rather brash.” The other one on the screen declares, cat like eyes glaring at Sehun. “You must be the little brother. Yeah you coming to China isn’t happening.”

Luhan turns slowly, to look at Sehun with hard yet understanding eyes. “Sehun, we can’t protect you there.”

“I honestly don’t give a shit about being protected.” The empty feeling in his gut is slowly morphing into a raging fire of determination. “I’m tired of everyone putting me on the sidelines, my brothers in danger and I know how to shoot a gun. I can be useful.”

The room falls silent as everyone looks to Sehun. The two on the screen look unimpressed, similar to Luhan but there’s a slight smirk dancing at the edges of Luhan’s lips.

Chen is the one to break the silence, with a smirk of his own on full display as he declares, “You are Suho’s brother – you both have that same determination in your eyes.”

“Guys, I don’t think he’ll back down,” Luhan turns back to the screen, “and the least we can do is fly him out to China. Let him stay in the hospital with Kris. I mean, I hate to say it, but we’ll more than likely be bringing Suho there too.”

D.O stands up from the chair and walks away, so the other takes his place. “Come to China, we’ll figure it out from there.”

The video call ends there, screen going black for a few seconds before backing out of the program.

“Luhan,” Lay rests a hand on his shoulder, glancing at Sehun before focusing on Luhan, “are you sure this is a good idea?”

“I think he’ll feel better being closer to his brother and being able to see him as soon as he’s back.” They lock eyes, making Sehun shift and blush. “Come on, we gotta pack and Chen you got to finish decoding.”

With a wave of his hand, Chen turns back to the monitors. “I should be done by the time you all land. I’ll contact Xiumin, D.O seems too pissed to converse with us.”

“He’ll calm down, eventually.” Lay grimaces, not even fully believing himself.

Luhan walks to Sehun and gentle grabs his arm. “You sure you can fly? Can I at least get Lay to check your wound once and rebandage it once before we leave?”

The genuine care and worry dancing in his eyes makes Sehun pause, blush getting darker as his stomach twists. After swallowing and taking a breath, Sehun gives curt nod. He can’t break his eyes from Luhan’s – something keeps him locked – and he sees a slight relief expel some of worry as he pats his arm.

“Okay, get looked over, I’ll get everything ready and then once you and Lay are done we’ll head out.” To both of their surprise, Luhan pulls him into a hug. He’s still mindfully of Sehun’s shoulder, but he hugs him tightly for a second.

It feels like it didn’t happen, because Luhan pulls back so quickly and then strides out of the room, but it happened and Sehun knows this because there’s a warmth spreading through him he’s never felt before. It’s new, strange but pleasant; leaving his brain is a slight haze as he walks back over to the bed.

Junmyeon comes first. He tells himself, a small mantra in his head to quell the slight fear of going off to China and push aside the confusion surrounding Luhan. Junmyeon comes first.

The flight to China is short to Sehun’s shock. Luhan explains that they choose a nonstop flight to be safe and make sure they get there in time without any distraction. Sehun ponders for a decent amount of the flight about just how much money they have and whether or not that’s why his brother is actually fairly well off. Though, the short flight time leaves him little time to ponder before he’s being walked out to a car with Luhan and Lay flanking his sides. They head directly to the hospital and straight up to the private room Kris is situated in. Luhan and Lay continue their flanking positions until they enter the room and the door is shut behind Lay.

“Sit.” Luhan points Sehun to a couch at the opposite end of the room as he walks to the tall man sitting in the bed. “How many shots?”

Sehun watches them warily as he shuffles over and sits down.

“Only like four.” Kris answers, grinning.

Lay scoffs, rolls his eyes and pushes off the door and walks over Kris to start examining all his wounds and his medical chart. All the while he mumbles under his breath about how “only four” wasn’t a great answer.

Luhan ignores Lay and continues with his questions. “Where’s Xiumin and D.O?”

“I think Xiumin made him take a walk to calm down, he’s really pissed you brought the kid here.” Kris explains, eyes flickering to Sehun. “What exactly are we gonna do with him?”

Sehun raise a brow at the them, a little peeved that no one is actually asking him. Luhan looks at him, some sympathy flashing past his eyes like a car passing by on a cross street: there and gone.

“I haven’t decided yet. We’re still waiting to hear form Chen, he said he’d fly out as soon as he sent out the email. And then I want to talk about the ransom call D.O got. I know he can get hot headed at times, but I want us to be clear on their details and how we’re gonna do this.”

Kris looks at Sehun again before grabbing Luhan’s arm when he starts to step back. “Go talk to them out of here, Suho would kill us if his brother had to hear all of this.”

“Oh my god!” Sehun shouts, tossing his head back with a quiet growl. “I’m right here and I do not give two shits about what my brother wants. I’d rather know about this side of life than be kept in the dark anymore. Being oblivious is not grand it turns out.”

“Kris,” Luhan pulls his arm back and gives him a soft smile, “I think I’d rather respect Sehun here. He is having a hard time, and I want to do what I can to make it easier on him.”

The twisting butterflies return again.

Kris sighs, waving him off. “Fine, go get the others while Lay goes over my chart. You know he’s dying to know how they treated me.”

With that, Luhan heads out of the room to look for the other two and Lay begins his examination of Kris. Sehun watches them for a minute or two before settling back into the couch. He decides it might be best to try and rest as much as he can before everything really kicks into gear.

Sehun doesn’t even realize he’s fallen asleep until he feels a hand shaking his shoulder. Jolting back form the hand, he turns his sleepy eyes up to blink at whoever touched him, which turns out to be Luhan.

“It’s just me.” Luhan holds his hands up and flashes him a closed mouth smile. “The guys are waiting downstairs.”

A sigh leaves Sehun lips as he blinks a few times. After licking his lips, he asks, in a semi-tired voice, “I’m staying here, aren’t I?”

“Actually,” Luhan’s smile opens to show his teeth, “it took a bit of convincing but you’re coming with us.”

That gets Sehun to wake up, eyes sharpening as he sits up.

“They agreed to let you come with us if you are both armed and prepared mentally for this. Suho,” Luhan pause, face showing worry lines, “I won’t sugar coat it he might not look good.”

“I don’t care.”

“I’m sure you don’t, but they also don’t know you’re his brother. So, what we need is for you to be prepared to not react, which is a lot to ask I’m sure.”

“I’ll do it.” Sehun jumps in. “I have to, I need to see him and help in some way. I want to be there in case things go bad so I can help.”

Chuckling, Luhan rests a hand gently on his shoulder. “You do have the same fire as him, but I think yours is much hotter.” A blush breaks out on Sehun’s face as he blanks, but Luhan is continuing without noticing. “So, Chen is on his way down from the airport – he should be here actually any minute – but once he’s here he’s going to stay with Lay and Kris. Zitao, you, me, D.O, and Xiumin will head to the rendezvous point with the thumb drive Chen gives us. He’s already sent the files to the police and given them the address they will be at today.”

As Luhan explains all this, Sehun stands up from the couch. Once Luhan finishes, nodding his head to make sure he’s gone over everything, he pulls two guns from the duffle just beside the couch.

“Take this,” Luhan holds out a familiar looking gun and Sehun takes it with careful fingers, “it’s Suho’s. When I ran back to your house to grab a few things I snatched the gun from under the counter. Wasn’t sure if you’d need a gun, but I wanted to be more safe than sorry.”

That butterfly, twisting feeling is back with a vengeance as Sehun checks the clip on the gun and nods his head, clicking it back in place. “Thank you, that is actually … really sweet of you. Like oddly sweet, but still.”  
The pair share heartwarming grins for a second, before the opening of the door breaks their bubble.

Chen strolls through the door with Lay behind him.

“You guys should head down.” Chen declares, flashing them a smile. “Promise not to get shot?”  
Lay is the one to scoff and roll his eyes before even Luhan can retort. “We both know they can’t make that, how about you try again.”

A pout rests on Chen’s lips as he rephrases his question. “Fine, promise to come back?”

Luhan laughs, patting Chen’s shoulder as he passes him. “That, I think, we can do.”

With that declaration, Luhan ushers Sehun to follow him. The pair make their way down the stairwell to the main lobby. Once they’re all together, they head out – without a word – to a black van. Sehun thinks that maybe this is a little obvious and gives them away, but he doesn’t say anything aloud and simply sits in the back beside Luhan silently.

The ride is a decent distance; Sehun watches the city pass in awe. He’s never left Seoul, and despite the horrid circumstances he can’t help but let the new sights take his mind off it, even if only for a little bit.

It isn’t too much longer before they pull into a warehouse lot. Everyone files out of the car, Sehun being ushered to the back while D.O and Luhan lead them. Xiumin runs off into one of the buildings, snipper case in hand. Zitao flanks to the left of D.O, slightly behind, and he motions for Sehun to do the same by Luhan. Sehun draws his gun like Zitao and does as instructed.

The eerie silence settles heavily on Sehun’s nerves, making him stomach twist and head light. The lot is empty as the walk out from behind the warehouse to the open space between the warehouses. Not another soul is in sight. They walk a little further down, until there in front of the warehouse Xiumin is currently perched and hiding on top of.

Slowly, Sehun’s heart begins to pick up speed as the silence drags on. Grating at his nerves even more when the sound of tires reaches their ears.

Another van comes around the corner, slow, encroaching. It stops a solid twenty feet away. The engine turns off and it’s quiet again. Two men climb out of the front, and the sound of doors opening signals there’s more coming out of the back. In total, four men begin their approach – two of which are dragging along Suho, a bruised and beaten Suho.

Sehun’s breath catches in his throat, but he steals himself as best he can when D.O shoots him a quick – almost unnoticeable – glare. Suho’s face is swollen, one eyes so puffy it stays shut, and there’s blood on his shirt and smeared across his lips. A trail of blood – still fresh – drips from his lips. As soon as he sees them though, he struggles harder with the men who keep pulling him forward.

“The drive?” One of the men declares, holding out his hand as he stands a few feet away.

“Our leader?” D.O responds, raising a brow at the man.

The man frowns. “Give me the drive and you get your leader, but I need the drive first.”

“Let one of my men stand beside him,” D.O counters, “then I’ll place the drive in your hand.”

The man continues to frown for a minute, staring down D.O. Then he rolls his eyes, sighs and nods his head. “Fine, you two come over.”

Zitao and D.O step forward without hesitation; Luhan immediately steps back to stand in line with Sehun. Their mental link showing easily, as Sehun knew this wasn’t planned. Zitao stands by Suho, resting his hand on his arm as D.O pulls the drive out his pocket.

The tension rises along with another sound. Luhan’s face scrunches in confusion as D.O’s head perks up. The sound gets progressively louder as the time around them slows. It’s took late by the time they register what it is.

“The police?!” The man before D.O screams, voice echoing violently around them. “You called the police?! We had a deal!”

With wide eyes, D.O shakes his hands and head. “It wasn’t us!” It’s a lie, a believable lie, but it’s too late.

The first shot is fired at D.O, who easily side steps the lackies bullet which comes towards Sehun and Luhan; they jump to opposite sides to avoid getting shot. When Sehun turns to watch, D.O has his gun drawn as well as Zitao and shots ring out.

In the haze of madness, Zitao manages to cripple one of the men holding Suho and drag him off and away; D.O is fighting off the main guy, working on taking him down. The other two have turned to Luhan and Sehun, guns drawn and aimed at Luhan. Out of the corner of his eye, he also notices at least three more men climbing from the van and heading towards them. With a silent prayer that Xiumin has them covered, Sehun runs to Luhan’s side. He fires off a shot at one of the guys, effectively grazing his head, but that just makes him madder. Luhan fires at the other one, taking out his knee and sending him down. As Luhan turns to thank Sehun, the words flow from his mouth shortly followed by the sound of a shot. With a glance to the right, Sehun sees one of the new guys pointing a gun directly at Luhan.

It’s a split section decision A decision that shocks Sehun, but he does it anyways. His hands land heavy on Luhan’s chest, pushing him hard out of the way, tearing open the wound of his shoulder, he can feel it. As Luhan stumbles backwards, Sehun isn’t able to pull himself back in time and a burning pain rips through his arm. The whole world slows down for those few seconds and Sehun sees the fear and furry burning in Luhan’s eyes.

Time resumes its pace as Sehun hits the ground, landing on his hands sending pain to both of his wounds. Sound returns to him in full force with snipper shots going off and pistols being unloaded by the clip. The sirens are louder than ever, almost in the lot with them.

“Get to the van!” D.O’s voice booms across the lot admits the fire.

Sehun pushes himself to his feet, with a painful grunt and turns with his gun raised. Luhan rushes to his side after firing at another one of the guys, now hiding behind the van.

“Come on this –” He cuts off with a gasp as a bullet tears through his leg.

“Luhan!” Sehun’s voice is frantic as he quickly grips him around the waist to keep him from falling.

“Van.” Luhan gasps, grimacing in pain.

“I know.” Sehun grunts, shifting Luhan’s weight a little so he can shuffle them backwards to the ware house.

With gun still up, Sehun fires off mostly warning shots, enough to make them hide as he hobbles out with Luhan. It’s a miracle they make it around the building where Zitao is holding back a frantic Suho. As soon as he sees them and the blood, he becomes more frantic until D.O holds him back too.

“Suho!” D.O growls, holding him tightly while shoving him into he van. “Freak out later, we need to go!”

Once Suho gets inside the van, followed by Zitao, Xiumin comes busting out of the warehouse and up to him and Luhan.

“We need to set him in carefully and out pressure on his wound.” Xiumin declares, tossing his gun case in the van before helping pull Luhan in.

Quickly and carefully as they can, they lift Luhan in. Sehun flinches when Luhan cries out at his leg jostling, but they continue to put him in. Distracted, they fail to notice the men turning the corner until a few bullets fly past Sehun’s head.

“Get in!” D.O shouts as he slams the driver door.

Sehun throws himself in on the floor next to Luhan and slams the doors as Xiumin moves to the passenger seat. D.O floors it out of the lot, gun shots following them for a short bit. Sehun doesn’t focus on much, but Luhan’s pained face as he reaches up and pushes the hair away from his eyes.

“Shit, Sehun!” Xiumin’s voice cause him to look over him, finding him wide eyes and shocked.

“What?” Suho’s voice calls as he leans over the backseat.

“Sehun you got shot twice!” Xiumin declares, pulling off his jacket and leaning forward towards him.

Sehun’s eyes scrunch in confusion for a second before looking down to find his shirt and jacket stained dark red on the side.

“Oh.” Is the last thing he says before the pain suddenly hits him like a truck. Crying out, he reaches out blindly for something to hold onto, finding Luhan’s hand and latching onto it. They grip each other tightly as Xiumin puts pressure on his wound. It doesn’t take long before the pain and shock knocks him out cold.

For a while, Sehun is floating in intense, dark red pain. Just feeling it humming under his skin. It takes a while for it to fade away, leaving him cold and alone in the darkness. Images of Suho’s frantic face and Luhan’s pained one circle him, making his heart race and ache. He tells himself he needs to wake up; he needs to know their okay; it’s that thought that sends his eyes flying open as he gasps for breath.

The white ceiling and blinding hospital lights great him as he sucks in a few deep breaths. The beeping of his heart monitor slows down, reaching the same tone as the one next to him. As soon as he registers a second monitor he turns his head.

In the bed next to him lies Luhan. A sigh of relief leaves Sehun and his shoulders relax into the bed as he watches him. He’s not wearing a mask, so he’s more than likely sedated because of the pain. Sehun smiles, happy to know they got Luhan out.

The door opening pulls him from his thoughts. Turning, he sees Chen walking in followed by Suho.

As soon as Sehun and Suho lock eyes, Suho rushes up to him and wraps his arms gently around him.

“Sehun,” he breaths, voice shaking, “you scared the ever-loving shit out of me and I swear if you ever do this again, I will send you abroad or get twenty security guards or both.”

Sehun laughs, loosely wrapping his arms around Suho and patting his back. “It’s okay, I’m fine and you’re fine.”

Suho pulls back, brushing Sehun’s hair from his eyes as tears shine at corners of his. “Seriously, I never wanted you to get mixed up in nthis, I’m sorry.”

Rolling his eyes, Sehun shoves him gently. “Don’t be sorry. I think I’d rather know everything than not, your life is actually pretty cool and don’t freak out, that does not mean I want to join. I’d just like to be more informed.”

Relief washes over Suho as he grins. “I can do that, but I’m still pissed at you. You threw yourself in front of a bullet!”

Flinching from the rise in Suho’s tone, Sehun drops his arms and looks away, turning shy. “Well, I wasn’t just gonna stand there and watch him get shot. In my defense, I did try to move with him.”

“You just sucked at it.” Luhan responds, voice thick and deeper.

Sehun quickly looks past Suho to Luhan and smiles. “Yeah, but you only got shot once so I call it a win.”

Luhan turns his head to stare at Sehun, blinking at him for a minute before returning the smile.

Suho rolls his eyes at both of them, ignoring the way Chen is smiling, knowingly, at them.

Suho then begins his scolding in full force. Sehun’s lips are in a line as he sits up and stares at Suho, listening halfheartedly. He knows Suho worries and that’s the reason he’s doing this, it makes him feel better so Sehun takes it. Luhan and Chen watch with humor dancing in their eyes, which flicker back and forth between the brothers and each other.

“And Luhan.” Suho turns to face the Chinese man, who blanches and stares with wide yes up at Suho.

“Yes?” Luhan draws out the word, as he pushes himself to sit up in bed.

“I told you and the crew if I was ever in danger to not make a shootout, it worked out this time, but I’m still mad.” He gives a tired huff and shakes his head. “And Sehun, my baby brother, how could you get him mixed up in this? I said stay safe! Not jump into the middle of a fight!”

“Jun,” Sehun calls his attention back to him, “I made them bring me to China and I couldn’t just let Luhan get shot like that. If I hadn’t jumped in he’d be dead or horribly wounded. I don’t regret anything.”

The fire and determination in Sehun’s eyes makes Suho pause and causes a shy smile to break out across Luhan’s face

“Thank you.” Luhan calls to Sehun as he swings around and places his feet on the floor, facing Sehun.

“It was no problem.” A blush blooms on Sehun as he registers the conversation happening, and he turns his gaze down as he fidgets with the edge of the sheets.

Chen in the background makes a cute, cooing noise that makes both men blush more as Suho stares between the two of them, slowly understanding what exactly is growing between the two.

“Romance blossoms so quickly these days.” Chen declares with a bright smile, wrapping an arm around Suho’s shoulder. “You should take note and let your heart explore.”

“Oh, shut up.” Suho glares, lightly and nudges Chen’s side.

“Let us leave you two love birds alone,” the blush darkens more and Sehun tries to hide his face from Luhan, “we’ll send a nurse in to check on you guys shortly. Suho needs to get checked up on anyways.”

With that, Chen steers a frustrated Suho out of the room, but not before he calls out that he isn’t quite done scolding both of them.

Once they’re alone, Luhan moves over to Sehun’s bed, careful of his leg, and sits next to him, reaching out to take one of Sehun’s hands in his.

“I mean it when I say thank you, you did save me life today.” Luhan twists their hands together and interlocks their fingers. “And I honestly don’t know what it is about you, but I think I’ve been hitting on you on off without realizing since we met.”

Sehun laughs, whole hearted and full. “Well, if we’re being honest. You are like, the definition of my dream guy, but I did not think you’d go for the boss’s brother.”

Luhan scrunches his face. “Okay, let’s not think of it like that, for my sanity.”

Laughing again, Sehun squeezes Luhan’s hand tightly and smiles at him. “Thank you, for everything you did for me. I know going against my brother probably wasn’t your first choice, but I thank you for putting me first.”

“I made a promise,” Luhan looks at their hands, eyes softening, “to myself, but I promised I’d protect you from everything I could. Having you closer makes you easier to protect and hiding things form you does more damage than good. I know from experience. So, you’re welcome.” Luhan looks up, locking eyes with Sehun. “And I do think I’m falling in love with you.”

Sehun’s heart jumps, and the monitor catches it, making Luhan grin. “Is it possible to fall in love so quickly?”

“I think so.” Luhan reassures him, reaching up with his free hand to rest on the side of Sehun’s face.

Before Sehun can respond, Luhan leans forward and places a soft, gentle kiss on his lips. It leaves Sehun breathless and dazed, just from something so simple and his head is spinning. Luhan smiles against his lips and pets his hair gentle.

“I promise you,” Luhan whispers, “I’ll protect.”

“Despite your work?” Sehun chuckles, smiling brightly.

Luhan joins him in light laughter. “Yes, despite my work and where I currently live, I promise to both protect you and make this work.”

Humming, Sehun squints his eyes in thought. “You do live in China, that makes this a little more complex.”

Luhan waves him off. “We’ll figure it out later, no need to worry about the details just yet. I have leave from work until my leg heals and Suho already called your school to get you extensions and time off to let your wounds heal.”

“I’m on bed rest, aren’t I?”

“We both are.”

Sehun ponders again, looking down at their hands. “Are we on bed rest here … or our homes?”

At that, Luhan grins wider. “That is the best part, Suho said I could stay with you two in Seoul. He’ll – of course – be keeping a watchful eye on us, but business moves on so he shouldn’t be around us all the time.”

“He’s my brother, he’ll be around more than you notice.” Sehun smiles despite that information. “I think he’ll know we’ll need our own space, but he’s also still very protective and want sot make sure you won’t hurt me or I won’t hurt myself with my injuries.”

Luhan groans, tossing his head back. “Come on he knows me, we’ve worked together for years. He knows I’ve been broken hearted more than I’ve broken hearts. Plus, no man is an idiot enough to date their bosses brother and think of hurting them in this business. I am not begging for a bullet in my brain.”

Sehun’s eyes widen to the size of the moon as he looks at Luhan.

Quick to realize his words, Luhan shakes his head. “No, no your brother wouldn’t actually do that. He hates killing, he really does. It’s a joke I promise.”

“It better be.” Sehun breaths, laughing a little at himself. “I should know, this is Jun we are talking about. It seems more like Kris and D.O would do that kind of work.”

“Exactly! You’re learning our dynamic already, that’s good. As much as Suho wanted to keep you away from this life, I think us dating is gonna get you integrated and become a part of the group.”

“Thankfully not in the actual business though.” Sehun adds.

Luhan nods. “Thankfully no.”

They lapse in a comfortable silence. At one point, Luhan pushes Sehun to move sideways and actually lays down next to him. Without hesitation Sehun snuggles up to Luhan’s side and breath a content and relaxed sigh. Luhan wraps his arm securely round his shoulder and begins o gently pet his hair. It isn’t long before both of them drift off into sleep; the most peaceful sleep they’ve had since Suho went missing.

When Suho returns a while later – fully ready with new points to scold each of them for – he swings open the door, mouth open and ready to fire off. He halts though, frozen in shock, the scene before him melts his heart. It’s the most peaceful and content he’s ever seen sleeping Sehun look; it sends a content warmth throughout the room. As well, he can’t help but note just how relaxed Luhan looks: relaxation being almost a foreign look on the Chinese man.

He stands there for a moment, just smiling at them, then he gently closes the door and leaves them in peace. Still smiling to himself, he quietly murmurs, “I can scold them later, but I guess Chen is right: love blossoms so quickly these days.”

Luhan peaks an eye open once the door is shut. He assumes it was Suho, and he calls it a win that he’s not getting scolded or woken up. His mind wanders back to Sehun as said man snuggles closer to him, burying his face into the crook of his neck. Luhan’s stomach twists and flips.

“You’re so precious.” Luhan whispers to him, carding his fingers through his hair and grinning as Sehun release a content sigh. “I mean it when I say I’ll protect you, you mean too much to me to see you ever hurt again. I’ll protect you from everything I have had to see.”

Leaning forward, Luhan places a kiss to Sehun’s head. He lingers there for a second before letting his head drop back and his mind slip off to join Sehun in sleep, subconsciously pulling him closer as he falls.


End file.
